Search Engine Optimization

Traits of Professional SEO Web Design

Not all Web Design is SEO friendly

When it comes to professional web design, there are lots of great web designers out there. Most web designers are very creative and have a strong artistic background. These designers can use their artistic abilities to design websites, which are guaranteed to catch the attention of your visitors. However, there's one major factor that the majority web designers are lacking.

Many web designers are usually not familiar with the concepts and implementation of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Even if a web designer has at least some fundamental knowledge and understanding of SEO, the majority don't worry about implementing search engine optimization strategies into their designs.

Include SEO in your web design conversation

While the implementation of SEO into your web design might seem like a trivial detail, it can be the root of some major problems. No matter how aesthetically pleasing or engaging your website is, if it's not indexed by or optimized for search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, it might not receive any visitors from organic searches. Once you realize your website hasn't been indexed or isn't ranking well in search engines, you will probably need to hire an SEO expert who knows how to update your website to be optimized for search engines.

In the end, you could find yourself paying double for something that should have been done the first time around. Whether you're a web designer or a business owner looking to hire a designer, it's essential to know the three traits of professional SEO web design.

1. Human & Search Engine Usability:

The first trait of a professional SEO web design is usability. The website must be easy for visitors to navigate and be easy for search engine robots to crawl and index. Making your website friendly for human visitors, search engine robots, & search engine algorithms requires minimizing or removing things to ensure that your website is setup for success. When a website is designed with usability in mind, you can be certain that both your visitors and search engine robots will be happy with your website.

2. Follow Search Engine Guidelines:

The second trait of a professional SEO web design is that it follows the search engines webmaster guidelines. Web designers are typically very creative individuals and tend to push the envelope in terms of designing websites. This mentality can result in some amazing web designs; however, it may also create problems when taken too far. It's alright to push the web design envelope; just make sure that the web designer avoids anything that the various search engines advocate against.

3. On-Page SEO Optimization:

The last trait of professional SEO web design is on-page search engine optimization. Out of our three traits of professional SEO web design listed here, this is the most important. On-page SEO is the foundation of a professional SEO web design. It's crucial that the web designer properly implements things such as the page title, meta description, H1 and H2 tags in addition to internally linking between pages. If the web designer takes the time to apply these practices, it will make a significant difference in how and where your website ranks in the search engines.

All in Web Pro is the leading Las Vegas web design and SEO company. We understand that your website is the face of your business on the web, and we'll ensure that you're delivered a professional SEO web design solution that will engage your audience and make the most of the best search engine optimization techniques available today.


Responsive Design & Why it is Important

Responsive design is a very important aspect of web design and web development. In this day and age, with as many smartphones there are out there, mobile website traffic is roughly equal to desktop browser based web traffic. With so many people using their phones to view websites it's critically important to have a website that looks good on any screen size, to make sure that your content is easily view able without any issues and that your visitors can navigate your website and get the information they need or become your customer or loyal fan easily.

 

The goal of responsive web design is to ensure that your users have a good experience on your website. The best system in place at the moment, and the one that you will find on nearly every website that takes advantage of responsiveness, is the grid system. Grid-based systems usually work by making use of media queries like the one below:

 

/** This is an example of a media query that will activate if your screen has a width of up to 680px; It will then (and only then!) apply the contained CSS. */
@media screen only and (max-width: 680px) {
    .someGridElement { max-width:50%; }
}
/** The below media query only applies to view sizes above or equal to 680px width.* Setting it to 681 is so that we don’t have overlapping rules.*/
@media screen only and (min-width: 681px) {
    .someGridElement { max-width:25%; }
}

 

If you have been using CSS for a while, this shouldn’t be too big of a step up from what you are used to, but a nice part about responsive design being so prominent is that there are frameworks built already that will make development times a lot shorter!

 

A few examples of these frameworks are below. Please keep in mind that there are a very wide variety of web design frameworks out there that can be built on and used to construct a myriad of different websites. What's most important is that you know the benefits and disadvantages of each yourself before investing in any one framework very deeply. Many frameworks are also compatible with existing tools and Content Management Systems, for instance Bootstrap can be installed on an instance of a WordPress website and can be expanded upon, but doing so has its own separate set of advantages and disadvantages. We recommend you look further into any software set before launching your next project.

 

The standard for grid-based, responsive design. It is built on both LESS and SASS, but also has a pre-compiled version in case you don’t feel like being pre-processy. It also comes bundled with a redesigned version of basically all of the default html elements such as check boxes, input fields, buttons, and also has a few that aren’t default, like hover tooltips and an icon font. You can also view everything on GitHub if you feel like making your own fork of it or contributing to the base project. Bootstrap 4 is in the making, and it even has an alpha version available for those who want to give it a test run and give feedback to the developers.

 

This is another grid-based responsive system that is pretty common around the internet. It is maintained, also on Github, by Yahoo, and is frequently updated. There is also a feature-selector and custom package builder available so that you can choose the breakpoints for the responsiveness. It is also built upon Normalize.css, which is a css file that was created to keep the browser styles between browsers unified instead of having differences in crucial attributes like padding and margins.

 

For something that focuses on looks right off the bat, there is foundation. Foundation is another responsive framework that is built on SASS. Its modular design can be expanded upon easily with pre-built, aptly-named, "Building Blocks" that add new functionality to the framework without cluttering the default installation. Things like carousels, overlays, sticky sidebars, and even an effects library, can be added in minutes.

 

Overall, these are a very few of the total number of responsive frameworks. There are dozens to choose from, but these are three that you might run into contact when looking around. Generally the larger the number of people using a specific framework the more likely it is that you will be able to find resources and updated versions of the software as time goes on. Almost all software solutions today will require ongoing maintenance and upgrades to handle new security threats that emerge over time.

How Mobilegeddon Affects Your Website & Business

What is Mobilegeddon?

Google’s new mobile update, dubbed “Mobilegeddon” by internet marketers, has far-reaching implications for both your website’s SEO (search engine optimization) and your business. Mobilegeddon’s affects, which began in April of 2015, had a negative impact on the search result rankings of websites that are not mobile-friendly. However, for the long term, Google is making a clear statement that mobile devices and mobile search are becoming a critically important aspect of digital commerce and internet use in general.

Mobile Use is Sky-Rocketing

In the last few years, mobile device and tablet use has been skyrocketing to record numbers year over year. In 2014, statistics showed that the use of non-desktop devices, such as tablets and mobile phones, outnumber PC’s online. Although mobile devices have not yet surpassed desktops in the amount of searches on Google, smartphones are quickly approaching desktops in search. These days, nearly 90% of purchases for local goods and services are first researched online through search engines and more than 70% of business traffic is driven by search.

Search is extremely important and valuable to businesses, and trends are moving towards mobile search as the primary digital mode of the future as more people use their phones and tablets to search for products, solutions, content and more. Consider how many times you’ve used your iPhone or Android device to search for a local restaurant or business in your city, or perhaps while you were in a store and searched for reviews or prices of a product you were thinking about buying.

Google is Constantly Updating

Google is highly aware of these trends and is constantly testing and analyzing user behavior to deliver higher quality results and a more user-friendly experience to Google searchers. They are always looking for ways to connect users with the most relevant search results possible while also providing a improved user experience across all devices.

Responsive & Mobile-Friendly Web Design

Responsive web design refers to websites that respond dynamically to the size of the web browser that they are displayed in. Websites that are responsive can change in a variety of ways by adjusting their visual elements including font, images, layout positioning, and relationships between elements in different ways on the fly without requiring the web browser to be refreshed. This can be easily be observed by adjusting the width of the browser window you are viewing. Common elemental changes in a website that is responsive include the morphing of menus into a button with 3 horizontal lines, the vertical stacking of images and layout elements that were previously in rows, and the adjustment or removal of large elements in order for them to still fit on the webpage.

Responsive Web Designers

All in Web Pro is a leader in Las Vegas web design, graphic design, and custom web development that is focused on building mobile-friendly websites & web applications. We can update your website to make sure it is Mobilegeddon compatible so that your search engine rankings and business achieve the best results possible. Our web design services utilize responsive web designs that are mobile-friendly and will optimize your website across any mobile device and browser viewport on phone or tablet.

As the web has evolved, so has All in Web Pro. Our role in helping businesses increase their search engine visibility and provide excellent user experiences to their customers through the most modern web design practices, has helped make Las Vegas based All in Web Pro a leading provider of web design, graphic design, and online brand consulting & marketing.


AiWP Writer's block

Web Design Tips: 5 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

Here are 5 Techniques for Overcoming Writer’s Block:

Creativity is necessary for some much of what we do every day. When we’re “in the zone” our newest web design, web development concept or client presentation seems to flow out of us and all the dots connect seamlessly. But we’ve also experienced the other extreme. The clock ticks incessantly on an impending deadline, the more you try and force your focus the more distracted you become, until you feel incapable of stepping up to the task at hand. You’ve smashed into that impassible wall known as writer’s block. The good news is you’re not alone. Every one of us has encountered this obstacle, threatening to obstruct our path to productivity and success. And the better news is, there are ways you can climb right over the wall and continue on your way to completing your project.

1. Get the blood pumping and oxygen circulating.

Take a walk. It sounds too easy to be true, but it is an exceptional way to clear your head. It is even more effective if you make an effort to be “in the moment” by paying attention to your surroundings on your walk instead of visualizing your deadline as an anvil about to drop on your head and bust it wide open like a watermelon at the hands of Gallagher (http://gallaghersmash.com/). A walk also packs the added punch of getting your blood pumping, which increases blood circulation and oxygen, and this is vital to achieving peak brain function. Sedentary lifestyle habits, like sitting at your desk all day, inhibits effective blood circulation and can have the same stifling effect on your creativity. Many times a momentary change of scenery, coupled with some physical activity and movement, is all you need to reinvigorate your creative mojo.

2. Take a mental break to switch gears and recalibrate your focus.

Occasionally, you hit a wall and all you need to get over it is to step back from the project for 10 minutes and let your focus recalibrate. The key to not getting mindlessly sidetracked is to limit your breaks to a specific amount of time, not exceeding 10 or 15 minutes. It is best if your break involves reading or writing. Perhaps you indulge your guilty pleasures, that celebrity gossip website or check the scores on ESPN.com or go on your social networks and check out what your friends and family are up to. But again, be disciplined or this won’t work and could become just another way to procrastinate.

3. De-clutter your environment to reduce distractions.

Whether you believe that your surroundings can physically block energy, as in Feng Shui, or you just subscribe to the general principle that a messy work space is a needless distraction, it seems to improve clarity of focus when there is not “stuff” scattered haphazardly where you are working. Keep disorder to a minimum and it will enhance the process of organizing of your thoughts. A scattered work area can easily lead to scattered thoughts.

4. Limit outside interruptions.

This goes beyond your physical setting to include outside distractions such as phone calls, emails, social media and messaging notifications, television, interruptions from family, friends and co-workers, to the alluring temptations of the world wide web. Whether it’s eBay, Facebook, Zappos or cat videos on YouTube that entice you to drift, you have to empower yourself to just say no when you need to buckle down and produce a finished, quality project. Turn the phone on silent, adjust your settings to off, let those around you know you’re “off limits” for the next hour, or three, and close your internet browser. The world will not cease to turn if you go “underground” for a few hours.

5. Two minds can be better than one.

Get a second opinion. Collaboration can be a rewarding way to push through your writer's block. If you are writing an article, you can call an expert on the subject for a short interview. You reap the benefit of a relevant quote that improves your work, while expanding your perspective and, hopefully, making a new valuable connection. If the project is a presentation, try asking a colleague, friend or spouse to listen to your pitch and offer feedback. It will be helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off as well as give an insight or perspective that takes your concept to another level or in a different direction that you would not have thought of on your own.

The important elements of web development, web design, SEO, graphic design, or any creative development work, all require a high level of creativity and focus. It’s vital to have strategies to deal effectively with blocks when they occur. We would enjoy hearing what strategies get you past writer’s block and back on the path to productivity. What practices help you get into your creative flow?


Social Media that Matters

Web Design Tips: 5 Ways to Make Your Social Media Matter

To harness the full power of social networks and leverage the exponential reach available through social networking, here are 5 best practices.

Social media is a powerful tool for generating brand awareness and building trust. An effective social media strategy integrates seamlessly with your web design so that your online presence represents your company with professionalism and your SEO is boosted. If you do social media the right way you can build relationships with fans and followers that will build long-term relationships by creating content that engages and brings value your audience. Your web development strategy should always include a social element so your social networks are easily visible and your content is easily shared by those interested in your brand and content.

 

1. Use your social networks to listen, not just talk.

The social interaction between people is what brings the “social” element to social media. People interested in your brand will fan you on Facebook, follow you on twitter and subscribe to you on YouTube to interact with the person behind the company. They aren't always finding you on social channels to hear a one-way message that talks at them. Rather, thanks to social media, marketing and advertising is now a conversation and consumers will demand that you talk with them in a conversation. This is an exciting evolution that allows you to develop genuine connections with your audience that were not available before.

2. Your content should create value for your audience.

Only if you entertain, inform, or in some way provide value, with your social posts and updates will your fans and followers like your posts, share your blog content and videos and retweet your tweets. How can those interested in your brand join the conversation if you are not initiating one? No one wants to be sold to all the time, not in person and not on the net. If you consistently provide content that is of educational, social, or useful value you will build a following that is loyal, engaged and enthusiastic about your brand.

3. Social is not about selling, it’s about building relationships.

You get out of social what you put in. If you use it as a platform to always be selling, making it all about you, visitors will be less motivated to come back to your sites. But the good news is that building relationships is actually more powerful than sales! If you’re a dentist you’re not trying to use your blog to sell one pair of braces. If you blog on interesting subjects related to your business, such as how to ask for a second opinion or, for those that are terrified of the dentist, a 5 minute mediation to put you at ease before you enter the dentist chair, you will begin to build trust with your audience. This trust is the first step to building a lasting relationship. You will become a trusted resource that can develop into a client bond that will outlast a one-time procedure and continue for 5, 10, or 20 years or longer.

4. Use social networks to build relationships with industry leaders, colleagues and mentors.

Social is not only about reaching out to potential consumers, it's also about participating in the conversation among your peers and industry thought leaders. Follow those agencies and individuals that are driving innovation in your field or who have influence with many people. These people have much to teach and they give away valuable information and insights through social media. Are you listening or are you missing out? LinkedIn is optimal for engaging with industry giants and experts. You can join LinkedIn groups representing your field to keep up on the latest news, updates and industry trends. Be a part of the conversation so you too can establish yourself as a leading voice in your market.

5. Track your metrics to develop and fine tune your strategy.

In order to know what you are doing right, and which strategies are not benefiting you, you need to track your performance. There are many tools, both paid and free, that will generate reports which let you know when your content resonates with your audience and when it falls flat and fails to generate interest and engagement. By playing to your strengths and understanding your weaknesses, you can develop a winning social media plan that will increase your presence, raise your SEO ranking and establish your business as a leader in your market.

We have been in the Las Vegas web design and web development industry for years and we have experienced the power of social media to make connections and create partnerships and clients in our community. It’s not rocket science, all it takes is knowledge, a passion for engaging with your audience, and a consistent dedication to the effort and consistency required to create value and build genuine long-term connections.


FREE SEO Monitir

How to Measure and Monitor your SEO for FREE

8 tips on how to keep track of your SEO for FREE

You can offer the best services or goods in your marketplace, but if those who are searching for what you sell find your competitor online instead of you, you will likely not earn their business. The research shows most consumers first look online when they are interested in making a purchase. The statistics are clear; over 80% of consumers will do their own search online well before they pull out their wallet to spend their money.

 

In order to know where you stand in regards to your competitors, it’s crucial you measure your SEO (search engine optimization) to establish your position, and to monitor it on an on-going basis. If you have the budget, SEO is one of the most dominant factors in your online marketing campaign and allocating the funds to have it professionally managed, will be some of the most valuable money you spend towards driving traffic to your site and bringing potential clients directly in touch with your brand. However, if you are not yet in a position to afford expert assistance with your SEO marketing, all is not lost. With some time and effort, you can use the following free tools to identify your ranking and monitor your position. For 6 free techniques you can put into practice today to power your SEO upwards, you can read our article 6 Simple SEO Habits to Increase Website Rankings & Traffic.

1. Google Analytics

You can sign up in minutes to begin taking advantage of this powerful, free tool. Google Analytics offers daily traffic statistics which you can sort and organize:  per keywords, per visitor, per location, per referring website, per search engine, and by any time scale. Packed with useful features, it is a must have for anyone interested in measuring and tracking their website traffic and SEO progress.

2. Google Adwords' Keyword Tool

This powerful and free online resource allows you to see the number of searches that Google receives nationally, and internationally, for any specific keyword phrases.  We recommend checking off the box that says "Exact" searches, not broad or matching, for the most accurate and relevant statistics. What this means to you is that now you can confidently know which keywords your target audience is searching for the most when they're looking for brands or businesses like yours online. We use this to help decide which keywords would be most profitable to target in our SEO campaigns for ourselves and our clients.

3. Understand the Power of Search Results Ranking.

On any Google search page in organic results:  #1 gets 33% of clicks, #2 gets 22%, #3 gets 11%, #4 gets 7%, on down until #10 gets 1-3% share of link traffic. This shows how skewed the numbers are toward the top of the first page of Google. Because traffic is so heavily funneled to the first few listings, its easy to see how companies can become forgotten when they are not actively managing their SEO and staying on top of their ability to be found. Keep in mind that these numbers vary widely based on the industry you're in and how likely it is that people searching will be satisfied with the first search results versus continuing down the search results page looking for something the other results aren't providing.

4. MicroSiteMasters.com

This extremely valuable service provides Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rank reporting and tracking keywords in Google, Bing, and Yahoo, and their service is free for first 10 keywords. 10 keywords are more than sufficient to get started measuring the progress of your SEO efforts, and if you're not using a tool like this, you need to start now so you can begin understanding where you rank and how your rank changes over time.

logo-microsite-masters

5. HubSpot's Website Grader

In less than 30 seconds, HubSpot issues a report that analyzes all of your online marketing efforts, not just on your website, and gives you a Marketing Grade on a 1-100 scale. It doesn’t stop there; it recommends the next steps, in order of priority that you should take to improve your strategy. By assessing over 30 factors, HubSpot offers a comprehensive assessment and then provides a plan of action, complete with online resources to help put their recommendations into practice.

6. MajesticSEO.com

This website offers a free tool to track and analyze off-site backlink health of any website online, by total history or by recent growth. Use the power of MajesticSEO’s enormous link intelligence database to compare your backlink power to that of your competitors.

7. Google's "Site:" search

I use this tool everyday, even when just browsing because it's so powerful. Just try typing “site:examplesite.com" into the Google search bar, adding in a website use regularly, and then look at total search results for the number of pages indexed by Google. This normally tells you, with a fair amount of accuracy the total number of pages on any website, which can be used as a rough indicator of their on-site SEO credibility in Google. The total number of pages a website has can also roughly approximate how well established and trusted your website is according to Google search engine’s algorithm, this is because the longer a website has existed and the more valuable content they have online, the more it lends to the idea that they know what they're talking about, assuming that the content is relevant, unique, and that there's a decent amount of it on every page.

For even more fun, try adding search terms with a space just before where the "site:" appears, and you'll be amazed at how useful it is to be doing a Google search of pages ONLY on the website listed in the example. ("site:example.com")

8. Use "Page Source" / "View Source"

This is a simple, fast way to determine which keywords your webpages, and your competitors' webpages, are targeting. This is the basic information you need to assess where your current SEO is focused and vital to your understanding of what type of traffic you are attracting—or failing to attract. "Page Source" or "View Source" is a browser tool option which you can access in most browsers by doing right-click on the webpage on PCs or Option-click on Macs; it also appears in the browser's menu. Select this option and you will see the HTML code for the page. In the code, near the top of most webpages you should be able to see or find using CTRL+F the following text meta tags; look for <title>, <meta description >, <meta keywords > tags.

Pay attention to the first words that appear in these meta tags. These keywords can be used to analyze your competition and see what keywords they are telling Google to target for each of their webpages. The most important is the title tag, but the description tag is also very important to Google, because this is the text that appears in Google search results. Conversely, be sure your meta tags are telling search engines the right story about who you are and what content or keywords each webpage is primarily relevant to.

 

Based in Nevada, our Las Vegas web design team would be happy to answer any questions you may have about SEO. For more resources and helpful tips sign up for our newsletter or send us a message telling us what topics you'd like to see covered here. For now, don’t hesitate to get started with these useful resources that you can access free of charge anytime. We recommend always getting professional feedback and direction at the start of any SEO campaign, no matter how small, to ensure that you're not making any mistakes that could be costing you valuable traffic. We offer free consultations and are happy to educate our customers on the value of a well designed SEO campaign.


Advanced SEO

11 SEO Strategies for Search Engine Ranking Success

SEO opportunities abound!

If you're already familiar with some of the key elements of SEO or are just starting out these SEO topics will help you make sure you're not missing any opportunities or making easy mistakes that can be overlooked by even the most seasoned web designers. Search engines look at hundreds of different factors when analyzing the value and relevance of your website and determining which webpages to rank on the first page of search results. These are just a few strategies that are easy to implement and are sure to help improve your website's on-site SEO value.

We're a Las Vegas SEO and Web Design company that's developed our own approach to search optimization for our clients since 2010. These strategies have worked for us, but keep in mind that every website is unique and requires its own special attention and analysis to get the best results. Please let us know your thoughts on these strategies and if there are any points we may have missed. SEO is an ever-evolving field and search engines are continuously changing how they calculate value online, the science isn't exact, but there are certain things we can conclude with a fair amount of confidence based on experience. So with that, here goes, be sure to let us know if you find these worked well for you!

 

1. Make URLs readable.

A URL, or webpage address is the "http" code that appears in your browser's address bar. To make your web page URLs more readable by search engines and users, make sure your blog's URL address on your website or domain appears in one of the following formats: mysite.com/blog/category/post or mysite.com/category/postname. This ensures that your blog URL counts towards your SEO. This tip is simple, fast and packs a valuable keyword punch! Obviously you’ll be replacing the appropriate words in the link. Here’s how this might look in a real example; “allinwebpro.com/blog/seo/how-to-edit-your-url-format-in-wordpress”. WordPress has a convenient Permalinks page in the Settings menu to set this easily.

 

2. Target 1-2 keywords at a time.

If you blog regularly and are wondering how to use keywords effectively, it can help to focus on two target keywords every 1 to 2 months and rotate to the next set of keywords as you go. Use the selected keywords in your post title, page title, meta description & keywords. Be sure to use each keyword once every 150 words or less, not more frequently, and include it in your <h1> tag and one of your <h2> tags.

How do you know which keywords to choose? There are tools, some of them free, that can tell you the most common words users type into search engines when they are looking for goods and/or services your company offers.

 

3. Use keywords in meta tags.

This seems obvious, but a lot of webmasters don't add meta tags to their websites or use their keywords in them. Google and other search engines use all of the readable text on your website to determine the value of every one of your webpages in relation to keyword searches. "Alt" tags for images and "title" tags for links are not normally visible to the average visitor, but they have an impact on usability, especially for persons with disabilities and help reinforce to Google the value and type of the content you have on your webpages.

 

4. Prioritize your keywords.

Be sure to list your top 5 keywords in order of priority in your page titles, meta descriptions, footer links, homepage text, and homepage title. If your keywords are absent on these places, you are missing out on one of the most important factors that Google uses to assess how serious you are about your top keywords. Consider these prime branding locations and be sure to advertise your keywords there. Obviously you need to make your content and search result listings appear user-friendly and readable to humans on all of your pages, and you should not use the same keywords on every page of your website, but if they are not there at all then you’re website will appear fake to Google, like it’s saying one thing and doing another.

 

5. Use smart backlinks.

This is a simple technique that should become second nature to you. Know which words people search when they are looking for information about what your company does and sells and make sure those words connect to your site. A backlink is any link that points to your website from an external site.

 

6. Create link harmony.

Create a site-wide footer that includes links to all of your website’s primary pages and include any pages that use page titles that match your primary keywords. Your website designer can do this easily. We like to call this “link harmony”, and it helps Google know very clearly what pages should appear in search results for different keywords. The term “site-wide” identifies something that appears on every page of your website.

 

7. Keep your homepage fresh.

Having fresh content on your homepage is important, and there’s an easy way to come up with new content on regular intervals. If your website doesn’t already have it, add code to your homepage that automatically displays excerpts from your most recent blogs posts. This can be done easily by a seasoned WordPress developer.

 

8. Link to authority.

The more credible and relevant to your industry and brand the sites you link to are, the more search engines will respect the network you operate in. If you link to many websites that are not relevant to you, especially low credibility or low PR websites that are not related to your industry, the more spammy your website will look to search engines. Google and other search engines judge your site based on who you link to, so make sure they associate you with sites that make sense for your brand and are considered authorities in your industry. If you must link to other websites be sure to include a “rel=’nofollow’” attribute in your links, such as comment links on your blog pages.

 

9. Use local search & review sites.

If you haven’t already, take the time to get yourself listed on local search websites and business directories such as Yelp, FourSquare, YellowPages, CitySearch, Kudzo, AngiesList and many more. These directories are powerful drivers of direct web traffic and are also sometimes used by Google in determining Location Based search results. For example, if you are a restaurant, you need to be searchable on Yelp and other restaurant search sites because more and more consumers are using these websites and apps when looking for dining options, and if they don’t find your business they will find another restaurant who serving the same cuisine.

 

10. Update sitemap.xml with Google Webmaster Tools.

This is another freebie that should be a best practice for every business. If you’re not already using Google’s Webmaster Tools, sign up for it today and make sure Google is indexing your pages properly.

 

11. Create a Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

This increases SEO and gives you credibility, while putting your consumers at ease. With the transparency provided by putting your policies in writing, clients know exactly what to expect and how your company operates in regards to protecting their security and privacy—two important issues for anyone interacting with you online. It has also been said that Google will give some extra credibility points to websites that contain these pages, as no large corporate company’s website is complete without one.

AiWP-mini-SEO


SEO Value

12 Steps to Creating Value with your Website

12 powerful ways to create value with your company website

The internet is overrun with content streaming and updating every second of every minute of every day. Intelligently planned SEO (search engine optimization) strategy and management can funnel users through the digital deluge straight to your company’s website, but once you have their attention it’s crucial you provide them with value or they may never return. People love the access to information the internet provides and 8 out of 10 of consumers hit the web to research when they are in the market to purchase goods and services. But competition is fierce and if you do not stand apart from the crowd, you will be drowned out by the onslaught of content crowding the internet. Most users suffer from content overload and you really have one chance to make your impression or they will move on to your competitors. How do you keep them coming back? That’s simple, but not always easy: create value with your website.

1. Provide information that helps people.

To determine what information is helpful to people try this effective technique: Pretend you're a visitor and imagine what you would want to know and what information you would want to come away having learned after interacting with your website. This seems simple at first, but there are subtle and sometimes unobvious subconscious decisions that your visitors are making. Try to get in their heads and really think about what would make them, not you happy.

2. Have a purpose and a way to measure your progress.

Think of your website as your online ambassador. It represents you every second of every day, while you're sleeping, away on business, or offline. What do you want your ambassador to say to people who are interested in what you do and what you sell?  What is your goal? Do you want your brand ambassador to generate sales or leads? How many and by when? Be specific in outlining your objectives so you can set up benchmarks and monitor your progress. If you are not hitting your marks, it’s a good indication that it’s time to make some changes to your content, online marketing, or SEO strategy.

3. Give or create something specific.

General information is for Wikipedia; you want people to gain measureable value from spending time on your site. Be specific in what you are communicating so people come away with a clear understanding of what they accomplished, learned or gained.

4. Use tools.

Tools help you maximize your web presence.  Of all the sites they could end up at, your visitors came to yours; why let them leave without knowing who they are and taking the time to see what their interests and needs are? One way to do this is to use a newsletter sign up that captures their email addresses and maybe a few additional pieces of information. For the cost of providing a weekly or monthly newsletter you gain valuable leads and priceless market research.

5. Always include a Call to Action.

Make it easy for your website visitors; let them know what to do next if they are interested in finding out more, taking advantage of a special discount or promotion, or talking to a representative from your business. CTAs can be designed to run with new product launches, special promotions, your current marketing campaign, or key industry events. Even if you are not offering a specific offer, you can suggest they click on a link to take your desired conversion action. You need to know what specific behavior you want a visitor to engage in on your site to consider it a successful visit. Then invite them to do so, that’s your call to action.

6. Connect to your Social Networking Sites.

Invite your visitors to engage with your brand through the social sites where they spend their time.  This takes the one way message of your website and makes it an interactive experience by opening the door to a conversation via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or whichever social networks your company uses. It's important to pick and choose which networks you really plan to use, then stick with it, even if you only write an update once a month.

7. Incorporate a blog.

Fresh content improves SEO while establishing your brand as a resource and leader.  Additionally, if you continually update your site with new blog articles it provides a reason for people to revisit your site on an on-going basis, creating a relationship with your readers.

8. Use images and text to communicate your message.

Multimedia makes for a more satisfying and engaging experience.  If you can use images to enhance your message, go for it. If you can offer video content too, then even better. Internet users are becoming accustomed to photos and videos and the more variety of media you offer the more enticing your message. Images also help communicate the message you're saying faster and in a more friendly way when used correctly.

9. Use images as part of your navigation on your homepage.

People should be able to click on an image or icon to navigate through your website to improve the ease of use. This is especially true on your homepage. Some people are visual and may prefer to navigate using images so be sure your images are clickable and reinforce the natural navigation structure and flow of your site.

10. Plan your pages and content.

This requires that you have your objectives clearly defined. Once you know what you want your site to offer and what you want your digital presence to achieve, you can plan your pages and content to accomplish your goals. As your goals change and evolve with your business and the marketplace, you should update your site and revise it accordingly.

11. Have your contact info on every page.

Make it as convenient as possible for visitors to get ahold of you when they are ready to take the next step and contact you. Establish the method of contact that works best for your business and have it appear on every page. Have you ever been to a website and not been able to find the phone number? That’s an easy way to lose a client or give the impression you're not eager to receive calls. Don’t require too much work on behalf of your visitors, because they may lose interest or delay contact. Think about websites you've used recently and where you had to look on their site to find the phone number.

12. Make your homepage user-friendly.

Your site should be easy to navigate, streamlined and not overly cluttered. A web page that a visitor can glance at and have a clear idea of who you are and what you do is ideal. You only have a short amount of time to convey your message and if it takes too much of an effort to comprehend, or more than 2 or 3 seconds to figure out how to navigate your site, guests will move on.

As a Las Vegas SEO and web development company helping local and national companies build their brands online we are always interested in hearing about the experiences others have had with user-friendly design and invite you to comment or email us any questions you have or topics you are interested in and we’ll do our best to include them in our upcoming blog posts. And feel free to let us know anything we might have missed or anything that has successfully created value for your users which could help others.

 


Healthy SEO

6 Simple SEO Habits to Increase Website Rankings & Traffic

In our Digital Age, the success of your business depends on getting noticed online. With 83% of U.S. consumers researching online before they make purchases, and 80% of global consumers doing the same, being found on the internet is tied to your survival in your marketplace. If your customers are not clicking on your website link and coming to you when they are searching for the products or services your company provides, they are locating and interacting with your competitor.

As the numbers of consumers doing primary research on the internet before they buy continue to rise year by year, being easily accessible online will only become more crucial. Being among the first search results in your category is the only way to guarantee consumers interested in what you do and what you sell will be able to discover your company. In fact, on any Google search page in organic results the #1 ranked link gets 33% of clicks, the #2 receives 22%, the #3 grabs 11%, #4 nabs 7%, on down until #10 only catches 1-3% of clicks. The conclusion is strikingly apparent—your website must live on the prime real estate of the top of the Google page or you will drown into the oblivion.

Why is SEO imperative to the success of your business? Because if you want to be around in 5 years you have to stand out from your competition so consumers find you, and not them. But fear not, there are easy methods to boost you to the top of the search rankings for those keywords that represent the services you provide and products you sell.

6 SEO Tips And Habits for Ranking High in Search Engines:

 

1. Check rankings weekly.

logo-microsite-mastersYou need to know where you rank, and checking your SERP for your top 10 keywords is a great way to know exactly how you stack up against the competition. SERP is an important acronym to know if you’re doing any online marketing campaign. "SERP" is short for "search engine results page", and since marketing through search is a dominant factor in online marketing, you need to be aware of how you measure up to your competitors, and not for just one keyword, but for all of them. This will tell you where you stand and allow you to gauge how well each SEO strategy you implement works. Getting easy to access measurable feedback will help you see what’s working well over time and what isn’t. We recommend using micrositemasters.com to easily track the ranking of your top 10 keywords for free. We can also provide and manage this for you if needed.

 

2. Leave your link.

Create a digital trail by linking to your website everywhere you go: in profile pages, social media interactions, blog comments, articles, friends' websites, your competitors sites, social networks, and any other websites that show up in relevant Google searches. Don’t forget to ask others to link to you (especially if you guest blog or participate in a speaking engagement, panel, seminar or other industry event). Always be genuine and don’t be a “sales person”.

 

3. Update old content.

Update the content on your web pages annually and be sure to remove or change any content that is outdated or incorrect. By recycling older, popular blog posts you can get extra mileage out of them. If industry updates and changes have occurred, you can create a new blog post by piggybacking off the original article. Also, keep your web content current so consumers are confident you are a leader with your finger on the pulse of your market.

 

4. Build more unique content.

Have little to no original text content on your webpages will hurt your ranking in Google. If you say the same thing over and over, even if you change some wording and sentence organization, search engines will also identify it as not adding new value and may penalize you for it too. Conversely, the more original and unique content you have that brings new value to your visitors, the higher you will rank on relevant search engine results pages. The more new original content you have, the better.

 

5. Ask for reviews.

Regardless of what type of website or business you have there are websites where people can write reviews about you. Take advantage of the opportunity to let your best customers and fans write something nice about you on those websites. If you're a restaurant Yelp is an obvious place for this. Any location based website can ask their clients to write reviews for them on their Google Places page. It's easy to ask, and there's a special kind of emotional reward that only comes from being asked to "give" something nice to a company or brand you love. You'll be surprised how many people will do this for you, IF you ask.

 

6. Create a weekly goal, make a plan, & follow-through

Even if your competition knows all of the best SEO techniques, none of it matters unless you take the time to put it into practice. Setting a long-term and achievable goal might just be the most powerful tool in your SEO arsenal.

Set a Weekly Goal; make sure your weekly goal is easy to achieve, don't shoot for the moon. The hardest step is the first one, so make sure it's easy for you to accomplish your weekly goal in a short amount of time and that you have easy ways to measure the progress you're making.

Develop a Plan; great goals are nothing without a solid plan for how to execute them. Be sure to plan exactly how you'll have time to achieve your weekly goal and to be patient with yourself and don't expect perfection on the first try. The more you do it the better you'll get.

Follow-through; create an incentive and accountability system for yourself. Put reminders up where you will see them, and set consequences that help ensure that if you do skip a goal, that you can easily catch up and get back on track. If it means skipping a Friday night out, so be it, your business and brand is worth it, and once you make a sacrifice, you'll be less likely to skip your goal from that point on. Or tell your colleagues and friends that you're setting a goal and want them to hold you to it, make them a bet and get others involved.

 

Closing Thoughts.

At the heart of SEO there is a search engine trying its best to analyze webpages and bring the public the most relevant and valuable information according to each and every unique search that's performed. And if you use these tips wisely and develop them into habits that you put into practice on a consistent basis, you'll be guaranteed to start noticing significant and consistent improvements in your search engine rankings that will stand the test of time and make these search engine happy. And it goes without saying that you should always keep the need and experience of your end user in mind because ultimately the quality of their experience on your website will determine your future.

SEO can be complicated and overwhelming at times, and we recommend consulting a trained professional before starting any SEO campaign. If you need help implementing any of these techniques into your online strategy please contact us for a free SEO consultation and we'll be happy to assist you.

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8 SEO tips for blogs

8 SEO Blogging Tips for Better Search Engine Rankings

 

Blog with Purpose for Success You Can Measure!

Blogging is something that's easy for anyone to do, if writing comes easy for you it can be as easy as typing an email message and clicking "Post"! But unless you're blogging with with a specific SEO related purpose or goal in mind and using easy to remember SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques in your blog posts, you might just be completely missing several huge opportunities to rank your website high in search engines for the popular search terms your audience is using and thus losing valuable traffic and business.

As a Las Vegas SEO company we've talked to many large and small companies about how to add value to their websites to improve rankings, and you'd be surprised at how little the vast majority of brands know about optimizing their blogs and content to rank high in search.

Here are 8 easy to remember SEO tips and blogging strategies that will be guaranteed to improve your website's traffic and rankings in the searches your customers are performing every day.

1. Know your top 10 keywords.

AiWP-SEO-starMake sure you know what your top 10 keyword phrases are and know where you rank for them. Don’t forget that including a city name, using a different word order, or adding an “s” or “ing” after a word makes it a completely new keyword in Google’s eyes. To Google, “Las Vegas SEO”, “Vegas SEO”, and “LV SEO” are three completely different keywords. If you have no idea what interested users type into search engines when looking for information on companies in your industry, then you’re unable to target these keywords and make sure you show up when they are searching for you. For example, if you are a plumber and you are coming up when people search “clogged pipes”, but only 10% of users use that search, then well over half of your potential leads are finding your competitor, instead of you.

 

2. Target 1-2 keywords per post.

When Google is deciding what webpage to show for a given search term, it usually won’t focus on webpages that cover a broad range of topics. Google is trying to give visitors the most relevant and focused content that relates to the keyword phrase that was searched. Keep the majority of your pages and blog posts focused on just 1 or 2 keywords at most when developing your content. Feel free to mention relevant topics but keep your message and content focused, visitors and search engines will thank and reward you for it.

 

3. Match content to keywords.

When it comes to looking credible, there’s nothing better than saying you’re going to do something and then following through and doing just that. Google will use the same logic when analyzing your use of keywords in your headers and meta tags in comparison your actual text content. If your page title says “Las Vegas Web Design” but the text content on the page never uses that keyword phrase, it will seem like something is not in alignment and all of your other SEO efforts will not be as effective.

 

4. Use 400+ words per page.

The length of a post is one of the factors search engines use in determining how valuable your content is and how high to rank it. There are several reasons why this will help make your blog post more legitimate and credible in the eyes of search engines, but all you need to understand to be able to use it to your advantage is that writing between at least 400 and 600 words will give your post a significant boost.

 

5. Blog weekly.

If your website does not currently have a blog, you are missing out on a principal opportunity to boost your SEO and establish yourself as a trusted authority in your industry. Blogging has many positive impacts on the usefulness of your website, but it also is great for your SEO. It adds fresh new content to your website, gives you the opportunity to target many new keywords, and also adds to the overall volume of relevant and high value content on your site. The more you blog the better, but setting a once a week goal is an easier habit to set and stick with than over doing it and getting discouraged and not doing anything. Set a realistic goal for creating content on a regular basis and you'll see your rankings climb.

 

6. Only use unique text content.

Text content is the life blood of SEO, and you will need a lot of it if you’re going to rank well in Google. However, you must never copy content from other websites to fill in the content areas of your site. Doing so will mark you as a copy-cat in Google’s eyes and the text will retain no value. Google rewards websites that present new valuable information to visitors. If you must use quotes or excerpts from other website, do so very sparingly and understand that it adds nothing to your SEO value.

 

7. Use Social profiles.

At a bare minimum, if you don’t have a basic social media profile established on major social sites, it’s going to be hard to convince search engines that your company is professional and up to date. However you feel about social networking, you need to be on social sites for 2 reasons: 1. your consumers are there (and if they don’t find you, they will find your competitor) and 2. SMO (social media optimization) is playing an ever increasing role in SEO (search engine optimization) and doesn’t show any sign of stopping.

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8. Users comes first.

In other words, make your SEO adapt to your preferred user experience, not the other way around. Your website and blog content should never sound like an advertisement or key word bulletin. Your content should present your services and expertise in an engaging way that gives your visitors new value and makes them want to tell others about you. Adding keywords and links should be done in a natural way that blends in with or enhances your content and message.

In fact, consumers shouldn't even notice your techniques at all. Users should come away from interacting with your content with the sense that they have learned something valuable, been entertained, or both; not with the feeling they were overtly marketed to in a way that's pushy or promotional. They want to gather information and take value from your site, not be “talked at” or “sold to”. That's why they're on your web site in the first place, instead of going directly to your order page or into your brick and mortar store.

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